Ryan Randall
@ryanpatrickrandall.com
A better world is possible, together.
Instructional design, humanities/Cultural Studies, pedagogy, open ed (OER/OA), library work, accessibility, ADHD.
https://www.ryanpatrickrandall.com/
https://hcommons.social/@ryanrandall
Instructional design, humanities/Cultural Studies, pedagogy, open ed (OER/OA), library work, accessibility, ADHD.
https://www.ryanpatrickrandall.com/
https://hcommons.social/@ryanrandall
Pinned
Ryan Randall
@ryanpatrickrandall.com
· Apr 25
Gentle reminder that there's no such thing as a "TERF".
The term you were looking for is "Feminism-Appropriating Reactionary Transphobe".
The term you were looking for is "Feminism-Appropriating Reactionary Transphobe".
Idly imagining platform & app-level encouragements (labelers, badges, cut screens, animations, etc) for blocking accounts on social media.
It's been an exceptionally block-heavy weekend, and I've barely even been on here.
It's been an exceptionally block-heavy weekend, and I've barely even been on here.
January 19, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Idly imagining platform & app-level encouragements (labelers, badges, cut screens, animations, etc) for blocking accounts on social media.
It's been an exceptionally block-heavy weekend, and I've barely even been on here.
It's been an exceptionally block-heavy weekend, and I've barely even been on here.
as an inveterate iconoclast, I have finally put in my first JetPens order—for pencils, not ink.
January 19, 2026 at 6:32 AM
as an inveterate iconoclast, I have finally put in my first JetPens order—for pencils, not ink.
It's somewhat concerning how little praise I've heard for Mac's new OS Truckee. (I haven't upgraded to it yet.)
January 19, 2026 at 4:34 AM
It's somewhat concerning how little praise I've heard for Mac's new OS Truckee. (I haven't upgraded to it yet.)
Reposted by Ryan Randall
"We need to move away from a system predicated on violence in favor of one that centers people's humanity. We need to ensure that every human in the [US] facing a legal process – including deportation – has access to a lawyer ... And we need to divest from the logic that violence makes us safer."
“Abolish ICE” isn’t radical, it doesn’t go far enough.
Latest in @theguardian.com written with my friend @victorerikray.bsky.social.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Latest in @theguardian.com written with my friend @victorerikray.bsky.social.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Abolishing ICE isn’t enough – it’s time to center people’s humanity | Heba Gowayed and Victor Ray
It’s far from radical to reject a system predicated on violence – despite what thinktanks might claim
www.theguardian.com
January 18, 2026 at 3:46 PM
"We need to move away from a system predicated on violence in favor of one that centers people's humanity. We need to ensure that every human in the [US] facing a legal process – including deportation – has access to a lawyer ... And we need to divest from the logic that violence makes us safer."
Every time I read "skylarking" in _Moby-Dick_ (like when Flask says it to Stubb in chapter 73, to approximately mean "you're pulling my leg") I immediately hear it in Horace Andy's amazing voice.
(Yep, you might recognize his voice & songs from later work with Massive Attack.) 🐋
(Yep, you might recognize his voice & songs from later work with Massive Attack.) 🐋
Skylarking, by Horace Andy
from the album Skylarking
horaceandystudioone.bandcamp.com
January 18, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Every time I read "skylarking" in _Moby-Dick_ (like when Flask says it to Stubb in chapter 73, to approximately mean "you're pulling my leg") I immediately hear it in Horace Andy's amazing voice.
(Yep, you might recognize his voice & songs from later work with Massive Attack.) 🐋
(Yep, you might recognize his voice & songs from later work with Massive Attack.) 🐋
I can't help but read the "Monkey-Rope" chapter as a pointed (and "democratic") parody of Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon—especially with Melville's footnote that only on the Peaquod were the harpooneer and the bowsman tied together. 🐋
January 18, 2026 at 10:01 PM
I can't help but read the "Monkey-Rope" chapter as a pointed (and "democratic") parody of Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon—especially with Melville's footnote that only on the Peaquod were the harpooneer and the bowsman tied together. 🐋
Reposted by Ryan Randall
Billionaires Ruin Everything Around Me (B.R.E.A.M.)
January 17, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Billionaires Ruin Everything Around Me (B.R.E.A.M.)
Reposted by Ryan Randall
I think there should be a law about this.
January 17, 2026 at 2:18 AM
I think there should be a law about this.
Ishmael's art criticism is intensely of the "the food is terrible—and the portions are so small!" variety. 🐋
Here as in the Cetology chapter, Ishmael is being the quintessential reply guy, citing prior work before dismissing all of it as wrong next to his wisdom 🐋
January 17, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Ishmael's art criticism is intensely of the "the food is terrible—and the portions are so small!" variety. 🐋
Reposted by Ryan Randall
Nothing but respect for the classics
Please don't ask me why my brain works like this, because I don't have an answer
January 16, 2026 at 10:26 AM
Nothing but respect for the classics
Like a few other folks have mentioned, I'm increasingly noticing how Melville seems to be a precursor of writers like Pynchon.
But I wasn't expecting "The Town-Ho's Story" to recall Hunter S. Thompson so intensely.
Chapter keeps giving "The American Whale Fishery is Decadent and Depraved" vibes! 🐋
But I wasn't expecting "The Town-Ho's Story" to recall Hunter S. Thompson so intensely.
Chapter keeps giving "The American Whale Fishery is Decadent and Depraved" vibes! 🐋
January 16, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Like a few other folks have mentioned, I'm increasingly noticing how Melville seems to be a precursor of writers like Pynchon.
But I wasn't expecting "The Town-Ho's Story" to recall Hunter S. Thompson so intensely.
Chapter keeps giving "The American Whale Fishery is Decadent and Depraved" vibes! 🐋
But I wasn't expecting "The Town-Ho's Story" to recall Hunter S. Thompson so intensely.
Chapter keeps giving "The American Whale Fishery is Decadent and Depraved" vibes! 🐋
Reposted by Ryan Randall
Pressing inquiry - kaiju? 🐋
January 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Pressing inquiry - kaiju? 🐋
Reposted by Ryan Randall
proper "Jesu cover art" fog in town this morning!
January 15, 2026 at 3:32 PM
proper "Jesu cover art" fog in town this morning!
Reposted by Ryan Randall
The conversation about birth rates cannot be separated from the subjugation of women and white supremacy. It also detracts from necessary work to improve the lives of those of us who are here right now.
January 13, 2026 at 6:32 PM
The conversation about birth rates cannot be separated from the subjugation of women and white supremacy. It also detracts from necessary work to improve the lives of those of us who are here right now.
Reposted by Ryan Randall
it is so annoying that the right has this power over the discourse. why don't you ever see, like, "the left has dominated the conversation on how people should have healthcare. some on the right are suggesting it's time fascists offer solutions"
January 13, 2026 at 6:46 PM
it is so annoying that the right has this power over the discourse. why don't you ever see, like, "the left has dominated the conversation on how people should have healthcare. some on the right are suggesting it's time fascists offer solutions"
A lot of us love RSS feeds as rad little distro mechanisms for electronic zines… *ahem*, I meant blogs/podcasts.
Did you know that you can pretty one up, so it won't look like h4x0r code in a web browser (if someone doesn't add it immediately to a newsreader)?
I just learned how over the weekend!
Did you know that you can pretty one up, so it won't look like h4x0r code in a web browser (if someone doesn't add it immediately to a newsreader)?
I just learned how over the weekend!
Testing new RSS feed system
Will the new system display content correctly in feedreaders, as well as look nice on the web? Here’s a way to check.
www.ryanpatrickrandall.com
January 14, 2026 at 1:41 AM
A lot of us love RSS feeds as rad little distro mechanisms for electronic zines… *ahem*, I meant blogs/podcasts.
Did you know that you can pretty one up, so it won't look like h4x0r code in a web browser (if someone doesn't add it immediately to a newsreader)?
I just learned how over the weekend!
Did you know that you can pretty one up, so it won't look like h4x0r code in a web browser (if someone doesn't add it immediately to a newsreader)?
I just learned how over the weekend!
A strange game.
The only winning move is not to play.
(I wish I hadn't had to play this game so many times myself!)
The only winning move is not to play.
(I wish I hadn't had to play this game so many times myself!)
January 13, 2026 at 6:34 AM
A strange game.
The only winning move is not to play.
(I wish I hadn't had to play this game so many times myself!)
The only winning move is not to play.
(I wish I hadn't had to play this game so many times myself!)
Reposted by Ryan Randall
Ahab: [in Fred Schneider voice] Sing OUT for the WHALE! 🐋📖
January 12, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Ahab: [in Fred Schneider voice] Sing OUT for the WHALE! 🐋📖
I'll see your "guerrilla gardening" and raise you one "propaganda of the seed."
January 9, 2026 at 2:50 PM
I'll see your "guerrilla gardening" and raise you one "propaganda of the seed."
Reposted by Ryan Randall
I feel like "academic hiring" discourse is always kind of downstream of the fact that in the 50s we started building a giant public system to make a college education almost universally available and in the 80s and 90s we started taking it apart to go back to the only-the-rich model
December 20, 2025 at 2:22 PM
I feel like "academic hiring" discourse is always kind of downstream of the fact that in the 50s we started building a giant public system to make a college education almost universally available and in the 80s and 90s we started taking it apart to go back to the only-the-rich model
Reposted by Ryan Randall
You know, this would even be great as an interlude in our proposed Muppets Moby Dick. Just go off the deep end with this shit. It fits. 🐋
A friend once suggested that if there was a prestige TV Moby Dick series, "Cetology" be handled by hiring David Attenborough to recite incorrect whale facts over a bunch of stock footage for an entire episode.
January 9, 2026 at 6:30 AM
You know, this would even be great as an interlude in our proposed Muppets Moby Dick. Just go off the deep end with this shit. It fits. 🐋
Now that I've read up to that detail, I can't help but wonder how many disability studies papers / essays / etc have already been written about Ahab. (Gonna keep reading instead of actually looking that up, at least for now!) 🐋
Ahab uses the same (but inverted) mechanism as action figures on a stand, and the question whirling through my mind is whether this is something Melville saw somewhere or if he invented it on his own. 🐋
January 9, 2026 at 4:58 AM
Now that I've read up to that detail, I can't help but wonder how many disability studies papers / essays / etc have already been written about Ahab. (Gonna keep reading instead of actually looking that up, at least for now!) 🐋
Reposted by Ryan Randall
MAHA cranks: we didn't have ADHD and autism and all these other non-neurotypical conditions in the olden days
Herman Melville: here is a new taxonomy for whales that is based on book printing formats. I also have many other whale facts to share! First... 🐋
Herman Melville: here is a new taxonomy for whales that is based on book printing formats. I also have many other whale facts to share! First... 🐋
January 8, 2026 at 2:52 PM
MAHA cranks: we didn't have ADHD and autism and all these other non-neurotypical conditions in the olden days
Herman Melville: here is a new taxonomy for whales that is based on book printing formats. I also have many other whale facts to share! First... 🐋
Herman Melville: here is a new taxonomy for whales that is based on book printing formats. I also have many other whale facts to share! First... 🐋
Reposted by Ryan Randall
🧵In my expert opinion as a researcher of vehicle ramming attacks, what has been publicly described in the video evidence does not support the claim that Renee Nicole Good was attempting a deliberate ramming attack when she was shot in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026. 1/7
January 8, 2026 at 9:13 PM
🧵In my expert opinion as a researcher of vehicle ramming attacks, what has been publicly described in the video evidence does not support the claim that Renee Nicole Good was attempting a deliberate ramming attack when she was shot in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026. 1/7